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Y’all know I love a good brunch. I ESPECIALLY love hosting a good brunch! Recently, I hosted a Sunday brunch for the ladies of my small group at church. Eight of us around my hubs’ grandmother’s table just makes me so happy!

I turned the usual “bar” area of the dining room into a coffee and juice bar, which really worked out well. See the flowers? Those were sent to me at work the week before by my hubby and they are still going strong and are a beautiful addition to the house!!

If you’ve been around my blog a while, you’ve probably also noticed my love of baby’s breath. It kind of works out that it’s one of the cheapest flowers out there, so comes in very handy when sprucing up the place for a little event like this. Sunflowers also happened to be my absolute childhood favorite – my dad and stepmom can attest to my bedroom that included a sunflower comforter, yellow walls and dresser drawers, and sunflowers stenciled EVERYWHERE.

It was a potluck brunch, but as the host I really wanted to be sure to have some main courses ready to roll. Eight people = quiche. Perfect! I made my usual recipe with a few veggies swaps, and added these mini bell pepper slices on top for a little visual prettiness.

And also bacon. And sausage.

Everyone brought AMAZING dishes, and we had such a great time just chatting about jobs, marriages, babies, etc. A very happy Sunday for all of us!

AKA Super Easy Quiche that you can fill with any ingredients you want! YAY!

This weekend, a couple of my girlfriends gathered for a bunch at a friend’s house. Let’s just say we were there for about five hours, and it was glorious, girly time. And my hands-down favorite brunchy food is quiche (well really, anything with eggs, but quiche definitely covers that). There are a million recipes out there, so I kind of just made one up, and I’d say it turned out quite nice.

First off, I pretty much ALWAYS use a store-bought crust. They are delicious, and let’s be real…no one cares. I recommend a frozen deep-dish pie crust…you know, the kind you buy that’s already in the foil tin, and usually you have to buy two which means WOOPS more quiche next weekend please!!

Anyway, here you go. You can always substitute any meat or veggie you want, but I was really happy with the flavor on this one…enjoy!

Mushroom and Spinach Quiche

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 cup milk (I use skim, but I suppose higher fat might be even more delicious)

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed

1 8oz package of sliced baby bella mushrooms

CHEESE. Optional, and the amount/type is totally adjustable.

salt, pepper, garlic powder, and any other seasonings you are partial to. Thyme would be good, but I did not have any on hand.

Olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion in olive oil until it begins to brown and become slightly translucent. Add mushrooms, and cook for a few more minutes until they begin to brown as well. Add in spinach and mix well. Take off heat and let it cool off a bit.

2. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, and seasonings: Beat well. Also add in about 2-4 oz of cheese. I had a bit of feta left in my fridge, so I threw that in with a little shredded cheddar.

3. Stir about 1/2 of your onion, mushroom, and spinach mixture into your eggs. Pour this into your pie crust, and then slowly add as much of the remaining vegetable mixture as you can. You may have a little left over, but I think it’s more important to get all the eggs in there.

4. Bake for about 40 minutes before checking it. It will likely still jiggle a little in the middle. Add a sprinkle of cheese across the top, and bake another 10 minutes, or until the middle no longer jiggles. I also recommend placing your quiche onto a sheet tray, since you’ll likely get a little overflow, and you don’t want to bother cleaning your oven later!

5. Let rest at least 20 minutes. You can serve at room temperature, or even cold. I’m a fan of warm/room temperature…To each his own!

Recently, my husband (and I, of course) has decided to become an Everton (a team in EPL soccer) fan. Because these games are played in EUROPE, they are often very early in Eastern time. Well this Sunday was a BIG one – 7:00 a.m. EST vs. Manchester United. So yes – we were up early and making a delicious breakfast for two, including scrambled eggs, bacon, and bagels with lox. I mean, YUM. Needless to say, we had fun but went back to bed…

Okay okay, I don’t ONLY love brunch for the mimosas. I love brunch because WHO DOESN’T?? I also love hosting things, as you may know, so I recently said to myself, “Meghan, you should host a brunch.” So I invited a few lady friends over, made breakfast casserole, and set a pretty table.

But THEN I got so wrapped up in chatting with the ladies I didn’t really take any food or chit chat photos – Sorry!! Alas, I hope this provides you with a little bit of brunch-set-up inspiration. I set the bar up as well, and I promise, OJ and champagne did make an appearance…

Even though it was just the two of us for Easter this year, I still really wanted to at least make ONE Easter breakfast treat! So I made a huge pan of these awesome Berry Crumble Bars from Willowbird Baking. I only made a few adjustments to her recipe – I used 4 cups of frozen mixed berries, and I only used half the cornstarch and sugar to coat them. I also replaced two of the three cups of flour with whole wheat flour. I highly recommend these!! I think they could have used a bit more lemon (maybe some zest?) but I just love the cakey texture of a good old fashioned breakfast pastry. YUM.

Do you have any Easter brunch or dinner traditions? We are only just beginning to establish our own traditions!

I must admit – I love heart shaped things, and so when I had an itch to bake some scones this weekend, I chose to break out the heart cookie cutter rather than cut them into typical boring triangles. That said, I bring you chocolate scones…in the shape of hearts.

This recipe comes from Sharon O’Conner, found in this sweet little box of recipes my mom gave me a while back. I considered tossing in some dried cherries for Vday, but ultimately decided to keep it simple. If you don’t already know this, scones are absolutely one of my favorite treats. It’s something about how they are slightly dry, yet chewy and smooth.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg, cream, and vanilla together until blended; set aside.

In a larger bowl, stir the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combines. Using your fingers (or a pastry blender or knives), combine the butter with the flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs.

Add the flour mixture to the cream mixture and stir until the dough just comes together; do not overmix. I like to use my hands to combine the last final bit.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and pat into a 1/2-inch-thick round; cut into 8 wedges OR use a cookie cutter and get creative 🙂

Transfer cones to a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes (this will depend on how big your scones are), or until firm on the edges and a little soft in the center.